The Mt. Baldy League champion made quick work of the third-place team from the Sierra League with a 67-49 victory to advance to a second-round matchup with Redlands in the CIF-SS Division I-AA playoffs.

About 32 minutes of full-court pressure from seventh-seeded Colony (22-6) led to 20 Diamond Bar turnovers and 31 fast-break points for the Titans.

“You make them work so hard to get the ball up the court and then they’ve got to turn right around and run 82 feet to get back on defense,” Colony coach Jerry De Fabiis said. “It’s tough to prepare for us in two days because we throw multiple presses at you. And you can’t simulate our speed and athleticism.”

Colony’s fast break took the better part of the first quarter to gain some speed. Of course, Brooks had already hit four from beyond the arc six seconds into the second quarter.

The junior drained back-to-back 3-pointers to fuel a 16-2 Colony run that stretched from the first quarter to the second and ended with the Titans in front, 30-18.

During a game-changing second quarter that Colony left with a 19-point lead, aside from Brooks’ five points, the Titans scored only one basket not of the fast-break variety.

Diamond Bar (16-13) committed six turnovers alone in the second quarter.

“Their press was obviously effective because we turned it over,” Diamond Bar coach J.T. Cameron said. “But when we didn’t rush into it, we handled it OK.”

The Brahmas, led by Joel Baez’s 19 points, didn’t offer much resistance in the second half.

Colony’s lead reached 24 with 3:44 left in the third quarter and peaked at 25 five minutes later after Colony’s Chris Cooper, who finished with 12 points, scored four consecutive points before the Titans finally slowed their pace.

Diamond Bar struggled mightily with the Colony pressure, committing three 10-second violations by failing to advance the ball past halfcourt in time.

“That’s the way we’ve played all year,” De Fabiis said. “We press you for 32 minutes and we run the break.”

Diamond Bar outrebounded Colony 35-27 but much of that can be attributed to Colony not allowing Diamond Bar down the court to create a potential defensive rebounding situation.

The Titans, however, didn’t take advantage of those situations when they were presented, allowing Diamond Bar to grab 13 offensive boards.

The Brahmas finished the game on an 8-0 run to close the gap. Athletic junior swing man Kacy Barlow, who scored 11 points, was the only player besides Baez in double figures for Diamond Bar.

Clay Fowler is the sports features and UCLA basketball writer for the Southern California News Group. He has been working for SCNG since 2006, when he moved to Southern California from his native Texas. He was born and raised in Dallas and graduated from the University of Texas in 2002. He lives in La Verne with his wife and son. He is probably craving Chinese food right now.

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